Bobbie Ruth Johnson Ross

Bobbie Ruth Johnson Ross, 91, passed away May 5, 2023.

Visitation: 11am – 12pm Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church, 500 Turner Street, Waco, TX 76704

Celebration of Life: 12pm Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church

Interment: Zion Hill Cemetery, Chalk Bluff, TX

Bobbie Ruth Johnson Ross was born July 16, 1931 in Gholson, TX and has roots firmly planted in the heart of Texas. At an early age, she and the family moved to Axtell, TX where she attended school until her high school years. She was the youngest child of Major G. Johnson and Lizzie Belle Scott Johnson, sister to nine siblings and two dear cousins raised within the family, and cherished Aunt Bob to many nieces and nephews.

The closely knit family relocated their home to 900 Hubert Street in East Waco during her teen years. She subsequently graduated from A. J. Moore High School in 1950 and attended Paul Quinn College as a Home Economics major.

In 1949 with support from lifelong friends, she was introduced to the love of her life, her future husband Sgt T.C. Ross. They were wed March 31, 1951 and soon traveled abroad to North Africa with young children for several years in the early 1950s. Over the years they proudly parented four children; Jennifer, Russell Kent, Eric Vincent (deceased), and Anthony Cole who attended Waco schools and churches; and four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Her young family’s first home was located at 1105 Preston Street and she lived her final years in the East Waco family home built in 1962. She was a longtime member of Pleasant Olive Baptist Church and has since been an active and faithful member of the Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Melvin Petty.

Professionally she worked as Operating Room Technician at Providence Hospital and later at James Connally Air Force Base. Started in 1971, after their retirement from Air Force, husband T.C. Ross and she were the first management team of the newly constructed Park Side Village Apartments in Waco. She retired after 20 years of service there, receiving heartfelt recognition from hundreds of community members and friends. Together the loving couple and community leaders then formed Ross Management Company and supervised the business of two East Texas apartment complexes. She gracefully led the company during her late husband’s illness and retired as the company’s management voice in 2005. Over the years, she received several proclamations and certificates of appreciation acknowledging her kind spirit, welcoming heart, and thoughtful guidance.